Bad breakup more likely than happy ending

By now you know, or at least know as much as the most diligent sportswriters assigned to the Arenas-Crittenton gun fiasco have been able to dig up. But obviously, this story is far from being played out.

The story of Arenas and Crittenton arguing over who and how much money was owed JaVale McGee from the card game he won during the flight back from Phoenix, and the carry over which included Arenas placing guns on Crittenton's seat and further taunting his teammate, further stoking the fire before the situation was defused is agreed upon by this space, The Washington Post's Michael Lee, Yahoo! Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski and ESPN's Marc Stein. That's also the story both plan on telling police, reportedly tomorrow. But is that it? That's doubtful.

There were initial reports that Crittenton actually had a gun of his own, but that aspect of the story seems to be a matter of debate. Crittenton's agent, Mark Bartelstein makes it sound like his client did not have a gun, and told reporters yesterday, “I’m confident my client hasn’t done anything wrong,” Bartelstein said. “The fact will bear that out. It’s unfortunate that rumors get going and inaccuracies come out before the facts are known, but all we can do is wait for the investigation to conclude.… Javaris will be exonerated of any wrong doing.”

Arenas doesn't have an agent boldly proclaim a positive outcome for him, partly because he has no agent, but partly also because he most definitely will receive some sort of punishment both from D.C. law enforcement and then from David Stern. And then what?

It appears Wizards ownership and management is souring on the once-golden boy. The family of the late owner Abe Pollin issued this statement during Saturday night's game:

"We want to take a moment to address our Wizards fans and the public. The situation involving an incident in the locker room is troubling to our family, our organization and our fans. We know our fans are frustrated and angry. The fact that guns were brought to the Verizon Center is dangerous and disappointing and showed extremely poor judgment. Guns have absolutely no place in a workplace environment and we will take further steps to ensure this never happens again. While the police investigation proceeds, we are limited in what we can say, but we want our fans to know that we will not rest until this situation is resolved and has come to a satisfactory conclusion. On behalf of the Wizards organization, we want to thank our fans for their support during this very difficult time."

That doesn't exactly sound like a team that wants to hang onto a certain player. Wizards president Ernie Grunfeld, according to sources, was the person who reported this gun incident to the league, and already has begun looking into voiding Arenas' contract. Voiding the contract would mean getting out of the remaining four years and roughly $80 owed to him following this season. And if Arenas receives a serious charge from D.C. law enforcement, the Wizards certainly would have grounds to do so because of the "morality clause" which gives a team permission to terminate their contract with a player over a breech of contract. However, a source close to Arenas told me that say he didn't receive jail time and the Wizards did still try to void his contract, the guard would fight tooth and nail, getting the players union to battle on his behalf and taking further legal action if needs be in an attempt to making that happen. If Arenas is charged with a felony, however, he doesn't have much of a leg to stand on.

Two league insiders say the Wizards as of late have considered trading Arenas despite his hefty contract. The guard was always seen as unmovable because of that deal, but Grunfeld has proven himself to be creative when it comes to wheeling and dealing, so nothing's impossible. The main challenge would be finding a partner that would want not only Arenas' contract but also his strong personality and off-court distractions.

Teams could be even more hesitant following Wojnarowski's report today of a rift between Arenas and Saunders:

"Arenas barely talked to coach Flip Saunders in training camp. Sources say his trainer, Tim Grover, spent time in Richmond, Va., for training camp and became, in the words of one team witness, 'a buffer' between the coach and star. After the team broke camp and returned to Washington, Arenas became increasingly belligerent and defiant of Saunders. Witnesses insist he began to purposely disrupt practices. Privately, Wizards executives were conceding to friends, “We’ve lost control of this thing.”

Now you can take this a couple of ways: 1) A front office member or team insider is frustrated and the dirty laundry is beginning to be aired as the Wizards and Arenas head closer to divorce, or 2) Arenas has an enemy who wants to make him look bad, or 3) An opposing team is trying to further stoke the fire in hopes of improving the chances of a trade happening. I was at training camp and didn't sense problem there, and haven't during the first three months of the season, in which Saunders has routinely either defended Arenas or find more delicate ways to discuss the guard's shortcomings. In a text message reply to me about the report today, Arenas said "I don't know. Me and Flip talk every day and I've never talked back to Flip yet." In his practice report from today, Michael Lee wrote that Saunders said the rift claims were "not true."

Either way, things are not lovely in Wizards land, and things likely will get worse before they get better. Players have admitted distraction, and despite using a 12th different starting lineup, the losses keep coming, and this thing isn't working. The foundation, of course, is Arenas. And with losses -- rather than wins -- continuing to pile up, patience for antics -- whether simply goofy or actually dangerous -- is running thin. And one way or another, the face of the franchise could look very different next season.